You’ve seen the greeting cards, coffee mugs and calendars featuring anthropomorphic characterizations of animals in arrangements like “Hippo Birdie Two Ewes” and “Wee Fish Ewe a Mare Egrets Moose”. They’re the creations of artist and musician Sandra Boynton, also known for three gold records and a Grammy nomination for her humorous renditions featuring luminaries such as B. B. King, Neil Sedaka and Brian Wilson. Now, Ben Folds joins Boynton’s co-conspirators on a country collection titled Frog Trouble…and Eleven Other Pretty Serious Songs, now available in stores and online. Folds contributes a track called Broken Piano, a honky-tonk tune about a somewhat out-of-tune upright with eighty-eight keys, six of which don’t play. Besides Ben, musicians contributing to the album include  Alison Krauss, Brad Paisley, Ryan Adams and Fountains of Wayne. You can hear the track and view a behind-the-scenes video at Ben’s website, and purchase the Boynton album from Amazon.com.
Ben’s Friends and Relations
Frog Trouble
Ben to sit in with Witt
Actress and songstress Alicia Witt has let her fans know that Ben Folds will sit in on bass for her New Year’s Eve show in her hometown of Worcester, Mass. The show, at Mechanics Hall, is part of First Night Worcester, that community’s New Year’s celebration. Tickets are available from the Mechanics Hall box office and via Groupon.
Ben Fraggles Five?
Chris Hardwick, also known as The Nerdist, has put together a special video version of Do It Anyway from the upcoming album The Sound of the Life of the Mind, featuring The Fraggles, from Jim Henson’s 1980s-era childrens’ show Fraggle Rock. The video, with Chris as the hapless audio engineer, also features Rob Corddry and Anna Kendrick as well as a Fraggle cast of thousands (well, not quite thousands). Fraggles are seen down in their cave as the ceiling starts to crumble from the pounding on the floor above, only to find it’s Robert’s jumping around and Darren’s drumming that’s causing the collapse. Saved by a stray mic cord that falls down the hole in the floor, the Fraggles emerge from underground and join the band, popping up from behind the drums and joining Ben at the keys. For anyone who grew up on Henson’s lovably silly creatures, this is a nostalgic look with a wickedly contemporary twist. And one wonders, with the band back together, whether a Fraggles version of Underground is in the works?
You’ll recall that we debuted Do It Anyway as a free download here on the Armchair back in May.
“The Luckiest” cover
As we know, Folds loves to cover other artists in his own style, or to do so in a style that totally departs from the original in a parodic way. The Dr. Dre song that we know and love comes to mind, for instance. Most of Ben’s own music, though, is quirky or otherwise unique enough that it renders best when he alone performs it. On occasion, however, a cover of one of his songs by another artist comes along that takes the song in either a new direction or further along the path into another genre, such as the Thievery Corporation’s remix of In Love from William Shatner’s album Has Been that Ben provided the music and backing vocals on, or Bette Midler’s redo of Boxing on her 1998 album Bathhouse Betty. Truest of all seems to be the Yellowcard cover of Missing the War.
Now, singer Sara Gazarek has nicely covered one of Ben’s ballads, The Luckiest, on her new album Blossom and Bee, just out last month. (more…)
Folds-produced Sara Bareilles EP in stores today
The five-song EP Once Upon Another Time from singer-songwriter and The Sing-Off judge Sara Bareilles hits stores, both physical and virtual, today. The project was produced by Ben Folds, whom Sara has known for a few years since she guested with Ben at a couple of his shows, but this is the first collaboration of the two. Rolling Stone has a preview along with a free download of the title song.
